Back from Beantown

I got back earlier this evening from my weekend trip in Boston. I got to show my ITP classmates Elizabeth, Catherine, and Meredith my old haunts. We took the Bolt Bus there and back. They supposedly have WiFi access on the bus (helpful), but the WiFi didn’t work on any of our computers on the trip back (not helpful). Also not so helpful was the lack of tray tables in the bus. How is one supposed to eat on the bus? Or use one’s laptop? Literally on one’s lap I guess.

Our Boston adventure didn’t start out very auspiciously. First of all, it was FREEZING cold. Not surprising for Boston in November, but certainly colder than normal even. Also, when we tried to get into a taxi at South Station, the car broke down and we had to take another cab.

Finally we got to the hotel and settled in. We went to Legal Seafoods for dinner on Friday night. I know, it’s sort of a cheesy chain, but I have to admit that their seafood is top notch. Then we headed into Harvard Square for a drink at the Casablanca, one of my old hangouts. When we tried to take the T back to Boston, there was smoke in the T station, so we had a cab. Does Massachussetts hate us or what?

On Saturday, we walked around the Harvard-Yale game tailgate, and managed to get yelled out by a traffic cop for no reason – we were trying to cross the street when there was no car, but I guess we had to wait for his signal. Whatever. Power trip I guess.

We walked back to Harvard Square and into John Harvard’s for a drink and some food. The waitress wouldn’t accept Catherine’s UK drivers license as valid ID, so she refused to serve her beer. WTF! We got up and left. No love from Mass. The dead end sign above expresses what I think about the whole situation.

We ended up walking up Mass Ave to warm up with some food and beer at Cambridge Common, another of my old college hangouts, and a rare place near Harvard that has nice waitstaff. Great selection of 30 beers on tap. We shared a basket of their famous sweet potato fries and I had a cup of roasted parsnip soup. New Englanders may not be the most outwardly charming of people, but I concede that they sure know their root vegetables! 😉

More caloric intake happened at Burdick Chocolate, where we had some of their AMAZING hot chocolate – probably my favorite in the whole world. Marie Belle’s hot chocolate in NYC comes close in the taste category, but in richness, Burdick wins without contest. Then back to the hotel for some tv watching. It was way too cold to do any more siteseeing. We ended up having dinner in the pub-restaurant across the street from our hotel, the Holiday Inn, which was surprisingly nice, with easy access to the Red Line of the T and right next to a Whole Foods. I don’t remember the name of the pub, but I had a very memorable cup of clam chowder (on par with Legal Seafood’s famous chowder) and a mediocre crab cake sandwich which came with sweet potato fries (my second helping of the day).

I didn’t take many pictures, but you can check them out anyway on Flickr.